Male, Female, or too early to tell?

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Atreides

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Got some hop seeds in a "beer garden" kit for Christmas and planted them more out of curiosity than anything else. However, they've taken off a bit more than I hoped for and I figured, why not? Not even sure what kind they are, but if they happen to be female, I might as well transfer them into the ground. But if they're male, it's probably not worth my time to keep up with them. Since they're starting to run out of space in the pot they're in, I'm trying to figure out the sex. I know they key difference will be in how they flower, but I need to get them transferred rather quickly.

So what's the verdict?

 
Got some hop seeds in a "beer garden" kit for Christmas and planted them more out of curiosity than anything else. However, they've taken off a bit more than I hoped for and I figured, why not? Not even sure what kind they are, but if they happen to be female, I might as well transfer them into the ground. But if they're male, it's probably not worth my time to keep up with them. Since they're starting to run out of space in the pot they're in, I'm trying to figure out the sex. I know they key difference will be in how they flower, but I need to get them transferred rather quickly.

So what's the verdict?


If that is a hop ( the leaves aren't very indicative of hops) then it's definitely a boy.
 
I've never seen hops seeds offered anyplace. All of mine came from rhizomes or crowns I purchased. The varieties we use are virtually all derived from propagation of rhizomes or rooting of branches from the "mother" plant, giving genetically identical plants. This gives a Goldings, Saaz, or Fuggles, etc, of predictable flavor. I understood sexual reproduction of the plants to be reserved for propagation in pursuit of new varieties, or course in the wild. Neither is a very good bet for a useful plant. The current issue of either BYO or Zymurgy has an article about this, with a mere fraction of a percent of breedings leading to commercially useful plants.
 
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